The federal government has urged the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to dismiss the petition of Chairman Karachi Port Trust (KPT) Rear Admiral Jamil Aktar (retired).
Additional Attorney General Tariq Mehmood Khokhar on Saturday filed para-wise comments on behalf of the federation to remove Jamil Akhtar as chairman KPT. The IHC chief justice on April 2 had directed the AAG to file the reply on the petition and adjourned the case until April 9.
The AAG, Tariq, submitted that the summary for the cabinet for appointment of Rear Admiral (retired) as the chairman KPT for two years was moved on November 7, 2017.
As per the Establishment Division notification dated November 23, 2017, he was appointed for two years.
However, through another notification dated November 27, 2017, he was notified for a period of three years.
The earlier notification was neither withdrawn nor superseded, so an untenable situation arose because two notifications purported to be dated identically (November 27, 2017), which is a flagrant contradiction of the tenure of the petitioner.
He stated that the petitioner had suppressed the material facts and invoked the jurisdiction of the IHC with mala-fide intention, hence, the petition be dismissed.
As per the audit report, the petitioner did not cooperate with the independent auditor - M/s Bakerstilly Audit Firm.
The petitioner manipulated the audit of procurement of the stores and supply of equipment.
He did not grant access to the record pertaining to the case and also did not provide relevant record to the auditors.
A store audit was conducted of the KPT, which revealed that the KPT's record keeping and procurement processes were plagued with alleged financial irregularities.
The KPT financial affairs have not been audited since 2010, and it was on the insistence of the Maritime Ministry that an audit firm was engaged through a competitive tendering process for an independent store audit.
In view of the report, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs intended to hold an inquiry into the affairs of the KPT.
However, a fair and impartial inquiry cannot be held, if the incumbent chairman remains in charge of the organisation.
A summary in this regard was placed before the prime minister through the Establishment Division for his removal on March 18, 2020.
The PM approved the summary on 19th March that Rear Admiral Jamil Akhtar be removed as the chairman KPT under Section-11 of KPT Act, 1886 and to assign additional charge of the post to Shakeel Mangnejo.
He submitted that in view of that Establishment Division, after the cabinet decision, notification dated March 25, 2020, Jamil Akhtar was removed from the post of the KPT chairman.
He submitted that as per Section 11 of the KPT Act, the federal government had the powers to decide about the tenure of the chairman KPT.
He stated that the petitioner wanted to revoke the contract of M/s Bakertilly Audit Firm, which had unearthed the irregularities in the KPT, but he could not achieve the desired results as some of the trustees did not agree.